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He doesn’t speak, but I know the truth. He’s still out there, somewhere. Maybe not hunting me any longer, but he still does his master’s bidding, whatever that bidding is. I approach him, watching as he shifts into the beast I remember.

“Why does Abedon want me dead?”

The beast growls, hunkering down as his tail flicks back and forth. But it doesn’t respond.

“Morrigan was the one who sent you after me. Did you come for me because it was she who asked? Or was that part of your master’s plan, as well?”

A feeling inside me says nothing happens in the realms without Abedon’s knowledge. Morrigan may think she’s in charge, but while her former lover might be imprisoned, he’s not powerless or blind. He knows all. He sees all. And the race to open his prison is working in Abedon’s favor.

Whether the Cockatrice or Morrigan succeeds, Abedon will be free. And when he is, there must be someone there who’s ready to stop him.

My vision of Morrigan standing beside me could mean something. But I don’t trust her.

“There’s something we’re all missing, isn’t there?” I ask out loud. Turning back toward the mountain, I sling my bag over my shoulder. There’s something here. I can feel its energies reaching out to me, similar to my own and yet very different.

My feet carry me along the mountain path as the wind blows snow off the treetops. Thick slabs of ice cover the side of the mountain, leaving nothing for me to hang onto if I lose my footing.

The energies I feel are growing stronger with each step.

***

CAMBION

Mercenary Stronghold

“We have never met,” I observe. “Come. Tell me your name…”

“Eilish, my king.” The slight rasp to her voice makes my prick thicken in my trousers. That’s a voice that should be screaming my name to the rafters while I repeatedly plunge myself into her velvet wetness. “And I come here to make a request.”

I wish for her to keep talking; the words that drip from her supple lips make me think lecherous thoughts. I’m drunk, but not from liquor. In fact, it takes quite a lot for me to feel inebriated by common drink.

“What might your request be?” I saunter over to her, drinking in the sound of her labored breaths. She’s nervous. Good. She should be.

My hands itch to squeeze her ample ass and caress the tantalizing curves of her hips and breasts. Fuck. That’s a body crafted for sinful pleasure. My sinful pleasure.

I continue to advance, placing my body between her and the door. “Speak up, Eilish. It’s not wise to keep a king waiting... unless you toy with danger in hopes of being punished for it.”

“N-no. Not that,” she insists and then swallows hard. “My mother and sister are in danger. For their protection, I would do anything.”

“Anything?” I repeat.

She nods. “I’m sure you understand my meaning, my king.”

Her fingers jump to the tie that keeps her robe closed. Pulling softly on the string, she allows it to slip from her shoulders. Finely crafted leathers and delicate lace cling to her glorious proportions, a perfect contradiction that makes me throb with need as her words echo in my mind.

I flick open the clasp between her breasts and they spill from the fabric as if eager to feel my hands and mouth. “You would give me this… you would give me your body to save them?”

“I would give anything.”

I shake my head to relieve myself of the memories that still haunt me. The Cockatrice is still out there and he exists only for the purpose of serving Abedon. But his contract with Morrigan remains, which means he may still be after Eilish.

I was a fool to have let her out of my sight. Eilish is strong and more skilled now than she has ever been, but there are beings in the world that would benefit greatly if they collected the bounty on her head or sought to enslave her for her power.

King Galmer waves me goodbye with a wish of good fortune as I run from the Hall of Clans. A tangerine light glows from the end of Myerdoth’s cigarette as the large gargoyle leans against the brick, eyeing me as I approach.

“I need your help,” I tell him, and feel my heart sink into the pit of my stomach as I struggle to breathe evenly.

“Go on.”